8 Scouting Tips from a Veteran Location Manager

Every filmmaker wants to find perfect locations to shoot their film, but many are unsure how exactly to go about it.

At the beginning of your filmmaking career, scouting locations might've consisted of asking your buddy if you could crash his apartment for a few days. As time goes on, however, you begin to grow and mature as a budding creative and eventually graduate to more sophisticated methods of procuring locations for your project. I'm talking about in-depth, boots on the ground location scouting, which can, in all honesty, be pretty intimidating at first, but with some practice and exposure can become a fun (and at times frustrating) creative process.

So, what kinds of skills and knowledge do you need in order to get started? Well, Aputure talked with veteran location manager Jeff Shepherd, who has worked on projects like Parks and Rec, Straight Outta Compton, and Shameless, and he shared a ton of tips for fledgling scouts.